Marco went over a check list of things chewing the end of his pencil softly and checking things off one by one methodically. Next to him was a bored Janna and a slightly nervous Star standing next to the road in front of Marco's and Star's house waiting for Brittany's party bus to show up. As Marco found something about 9/10ths of the way through the list that he didn't just check off he turned to Janna who sighed in exasperation and spoke quickly.
"Marco, the bus could be here any minute now and you are going over unnecessary details. You do realize you and Star still need to change into your cloths right?" Janna lifted her eyebrow as Marco slowly smiled to her confusion.
"About that… Star, change us into our outfits." Marco held up the list to point out that changing was the point on the list with Star brightening up noticeably as she raised her wand.
"Radiant Shadow Transform!" Star lifted her wand enveloping her and Marco in a shimmering multi-colored light that put clothes on them. Star wound up in a loose black silk dress complete with green highlights, a formal fan, and even turned her wand into a formal lace umbrella. Marco was dressed up as a butler wearing a genuine tuxedo with a white bow tie around his neck and a white cloth over his left arm which also held a silver platter with a silver lid on it. Marco and Janna looked at the platter in confusion turning to Star who answered their unspoken question.
"It's free since its magic so I thought I would go all the way with it. As a bonus it can also conjure horderves on mental command." Star smiled as Marco lifted the lid to reveal a plate of nachos underneath it with Star immediately grabbing some and munching on them. Marco chuckled as Star munched with Janna chuckling and speaking to Star.
"You just ate three whole chickens accompanied by 3 pounds of various snack foods. How deep is the pit you call your stomach?" Marco turned to Janna answering her question as Star finished the pile of nachos.
"I am fairly certain there is no bottom to Star's stomach; and I'm just fine with that." He smiled at Star's enjoyment as he went over the last items on the list. "Well, that seems to be just about everything. Get ready as Brittany will likely pick you up last to make a big deal out of you." Star nodded just as they heard the sounds of a bus coming around the block and begin coming in their direction. "Janna, keep to the sidelines and stay in the shadows. I have no doubt they'll kick you off without hesitation the minute they spot you thanks to the "noodle incident" you played on Chantal two years ago."
"Already hidden." Star and Marco looked around to try and find Janna but she seemed to be long gone as they looked. Star smiled at Marco speaking quickly,
"I really like that girl." She then put on a polite yet haughty expression that Marco had seen nobles use in movies and turned to see the bus door open. Marco immediately put on an expression he thought was similar and unfurled a red rug Star had given him and put it over the steps up the bus to the main area. As Marco stepped up into the main area people looked at him in confusion as he finished setting the rug down and turned to everyone holding his right arm out in presentation and bowed to everyone.
"I present to all of you, princess Star Butterfly of the Kingdom of Mewni." Marco repressed the urge to chuckle at his exaggerated Spanish accent that he was sure would have gotten laughs if everyone wasn't so shocked. Everyone gasped silently and talked among themselves as Star entered the bus with Marco hearing several muttered phrases all in some way meaning "She's so pretty". Marco stood up and looked at Star as she curtsied to everyone smiling politely and had to agree with them; Star did look really pretty.
Star turned to where Brittany was sitting and spoke coolly, "I beg a pardon, but where might I put your present and be seated myself?" Brittany blinked in shock for a few moments before answering.
"Over on the table over there and take a seat next to me, Chantal, and Sabrina." Brittany smiled calmly while shooting daggers at Marco with her eyes as Star motioned for Marco to put the present in place and went to take seat next to Brittany. As Marco moved he took a look around the bus and saw it was colored a mixture of turquoise and light purple that he sure might be appealing to someone but just made him nauseous. He did see that the perimeter of the bus was packed with comfy chairs and any would be windows were blacked out making him worried. He got car-sick easily and thanked heaven almighty that he had skipped dinner in anticipation for this and placed Star's gift, a rectangular box wrapped up neatly, next to the others. As he turned around he heard a crash and saw someone had "tripped" over Star's tail in what a trained and suspicious eye could see was a malicious attempt at tripping Star. Star however politely offered a hand to the girl that had done that and helped them up saying,
"Do not worry, everyone makes mistakes." As people chuckled slightly at this Marco saw Star wrap her tail around one of her legs to avoid further accidents. Marco hurried to Star's side thinking 'This is just as bad as I had thought it would be.' As he and Star continued to the Heather's waiting point. Brittany was wearing a frilly lilac dress with a turquoise band around the neck and had a little hat of a similar color pined to her hair. Sabrina was wearing a light yellow sun dress with a band of turquoise and indigo around the knee area where the dress ended. Chantal was wearing a thin peach colored dress with only one strap over her left shoulder and a white and peach stripped belt around her waist. Brittany looked up at Marco in a way that made it look like she was looking down on him, Sabrina was trying to be calm but her darting eyes made it clear she was nervous about something, and Chantal was looking at Marco like he was the main course for a meal to the point where she was licking her lips. As he sweated slightly under Chantal's gaze he took position to Star's left as she took a seat with Brittany asking Star a question.
"Why'd you bring your "friend" along with you?" Star chuckled as she motioned to figures that Marco had not seen earlier hiding in the shadows before replying.
"You have man servants, so why should I not have one myself. Right Marco?" Star gestured to Marco as he replied to her.
"Yes mistress." He bowed his head slightly to her as Brittany scoffed slightly, Sabrina oohed silently, and Chantal leaned in slightly fixing Marco with a hungry stare. 'I am uncomfortable.' Marco thought to himself as he glanced around the bus as it started moving.
He saw multiple kids talking with each other that he knew were deemed popular make up the bulk of the party goers by simple face recognition. He did see a few kids from "lower down" that Brittany had probably invited as a reward for some service but he ignored them as well knowing they would be too busy trying to soak up the experience. His eyes did fall on one person he recognized out of the crowd, and as they did so Jackie nodded to him smiling as if impressed with the get up he had. Jackie was wearing her ordinary clothes except she had swapped out her ordinary shirt for a deep purple one; she even still had her shell necklace. Marco cocked her a smile and winked at her making her giggle into her hand giving him butterflies in his stomach that were soon put to rest when he felt another wave of nausea build up from the moving bus. He looked down calming his insides as best he could as he heard Star say something to him that sounded like an order for horderves. Marco turned towards them putting on a "butler" expression, 'I can't believe there even is one' he thought in wry humor, and pulled up the lid revealing nothing; then set it down and pulled it back up to reveal multiple party snacks for the Heathers.
"Dinner, and a show my mistresses." He said softly and held out the platter for them to pick food off of. Star nodded politely to him and took one delicately eating it in a very dainty manner that was definitely not Star's method of eating. Sabrina took one at ate it normally looking awed by the fact that actual food had sprung into mid-air while Chantal ate one while giving Marco a strangely seductive look that made sweat break out on his brow again. Brittany was trying to keep an impressed look off of her face as she turned back to Star eating one of the snacks while asking a question.
"How is this even possible?" Star smiled and fluttered her fan in front of her face lightly while answering.
"Magic is an everyday thing in my kingdom. Even the poorest royal family has one of these at the very least; oh and a butler to work it. Since I am a princess it's only expected that I should have both as a personal add on." Star smiled coolly in a dominate fashion at the Heathers with Marco hoping they were not seeing the nervous twitch at the end of Star's tail.
Sabrina was the first to speak, "So does your kingdom have knights and castles and all those sorts of things?" Brittany looked like she wanted to smack Sabrina with her horderve but Star giggled behind her fan and answered quickly.
"But of course. My family's home is castle Butterfly, a palace in the capitol city of Mewni dedicated to preserving the history and Butterfly line." Star smiled at them as Chantal spoke up finally turning her attention away from Marco much to his relief.
"You claim it is a palace yet you call it a castle, which is it?" The trio smiled most likely thinking that they had tripped Star up with that one question alone. Marco chuckled internally knowing they were about to get schooled.
"Both actually." Star said simply making the trio blink in confusion. "It was built as a magnificent palace but thanks to the magic of our ancestors" Star held up her umbrella wand, "we made a magical wall around it and the capitol preserving it despite the many dangers of our kingdom." She turned back to them smiling answering Sabrina's other question. "We also have many knights expertly trained for many years and equipped with masterfully forged weapons and magically empowered armor to protect the Butterfly line and the kingdom of Mewni." Star waited for them to respond with Marco hoping that, given popular girls tendency to talk about cute boys, they would take the bait.
Chantal asked, "Knights at your command, I bet they would fight over who would get to rescue you to earn you favor." 'She's taking the bait.' Marco thought. Part of Marco's plan was to have Star engage the Heathers on their turf and win in terms of how high class Star can be. Star chuckled getting ready to answer with her fan fluttering to the side.
"But of course they would, it's their duty to do so. Many a knight also hopes to win enough favor to win the heart of the princess just like in the stories of old." Star waited as the trio nodded with even Brittany smiling in awe at this. "But unfortunately for many, they are just too common. A princess must only go for the finest and most high class men as anyone beneath her positon is just not good enough." Marco looked at the trio seeing Chantal and Sabrina looking slightly impressed but, much to his worry, Brittany was looking at Star in suspicion and glancing at him. As Marco watched Brittany's gears roll in her head Sabrina spoke up again,
"So who did your mom marry? As she was once a princess he must have been noble indeed." At this Marco glanced towards Star who was sweating slightly now. He knew fully well that Moon's decision to take a Monster for her love was highly unpopular and what's more that he was most definitely not nobility. But Star chuckled and pulled out a small locket and showed them a picture of her parents with Star making the group gasp. 'This was not part of the plan.' Marco thought in worry as Star pointed them out.
"This is my mom, the queen and caretaker of Mewni." The trio looked at her somewhat impressed by her. "This is my dad, the king and protector of Mewni." As she pointed to Toffee the trio's faces turned a bit sour and confused with Brittany smiling a sly smile looking up at Star.
"So, your mom married a human lizard?" Marco glanced back and forth and saw Star's gaze focus in on Brittany coolly.
"The lizard you are referring too is a great leader of noble blood among another group of beings of Mewni, the Monsters." Brittany seemed to chuckle in triumph and confusion as she tried to figure out what was going on replying to Star.
"There is a race called Monsters? I've heard of Monsters hiding in the corners of fantasy realms but a race known as Monsters?" Star put away the locket looking at them all.
"There have been great wars and conflicts between both races in the past with great tragedy. But one day a leader of the Monsters came with offers of peace and a desire to work with Mewmans to make a better future for all, my father. My grandmother and grandfather were queen and king at the time and saw great potential in him so they decided to work with him to make a better future. As he continued to prove himself by helping people with his intelligence, wisdom, and strength my mom deemed him a noble man and took him as her husband to help bring peace and prosperity to Mewni." The trio of girls were now looking at Star impressed with even some envy in their eyes. As they did so a chimer went off somewhere and Brittany stood up calling to everyone.
"Alright everyone, its karaoke time." There were sounds of cheers amongst the party goers with Brittany clapping her hands causing a big surround sound system to spring out of one of the walls. "First off, how about we let our local princess Star Butterfly sing?" People began cheering a bit loudly making Star's tail twitch nervously to Marco's worry. 'I hope she can pull this off.' He knew they had contingency plans for stuff like this but was worried none the less.
Star stepped up to the stage and took a microphone handed to her and Star seemed to hesitate for a moment as music started playing. She then reached up to her headband and seemed to scratch lightly underneath it like she was righting some hair and began singing in a foreign language. Marco didn't even have time to register that Star had turned off her translator before her beautiful voice began sweeping people away in a tide of song. Marco stood there awe struck at how well Star was pulling this off with beautiful images playing in his mind of people dancing in misty meadows in deep wood clearings at dawn. He was so awestruck that he didn't even notice the song end and Star step down from the stand until he heard a massive round of applause from everyone snapping him out of his imagination. As Star finished she reached up to fix her hair again and walked down to where Marco was standing and stood next to him trying to look cool and refined but only mostly succeeding, which was more than Marco had hoped for. Brittany got the mike back looking a bit awe struck, frustrated, and suspicious at the same time and began talking again.
"Well that was impressive; nothing less from a genuine princess." Everyone chuckled at that in a good natured fashion making Brittany even more frustrated somehow. "Well how about we let someone else take the stand, like you." She handed the mike to a random stranger and almost pushed him out onto the stage. With everyone distracted she gathered up Chantal and Sabrina and hurried to someplace out of Marco's sight.
Marco spoke breathlessly, "That was amazing, the song was amazing, you were amazing." He stared at her with Star looking down rubbing her tail slightly snapping Marco out of his awe and back fully to the present. "Well, you handled that pretty well. And now that the opening shots have been fired it's time to get ready for round two; and a good thing as Brittany seems to be getting suspicious." Star smiled getting back on track but Marco had a question for her. "Say, is all the stuff you said about your parents true?" Star chuckled softly before answering Marco.
"Most of it is not, my grandmother actually wanted to kill Toffee for the longest period of time. He did come from a royal family though, but it has been long since exterminated with Toffee being the only member after his cousin Rasticore was killed in my mom's civil war." Star hung her head slightly as Marco rubbed her back making her sigh in contentment before straightening. "Go have some fun Marco, if I need you I'll ring this." Star held up a small crystal bell making Marco's face go deadpan.
"You are taking this butler thing too far aren't you mistress." Star giggled with Marco realizing what he just said in frustration before turning around and heading off towards Jackie. 'Perhaps some nice quality time could help my standing with her.' Marco thought eagerly.
"It's not working; she's keeping her cool throughout the whole thing!" Sabrina chewed her nails nervously while her eyes darted back and forth until Brittany smacked her upside the head and began berating her.
"Stop that, do you want to ruin your manicure?" She then turned to Chantal. "And stop undressing Marco with your eyes; do you want people to think you're a slut who goes after loser boys?" Chantal looked at Brittany evenly as she answered.
"He's actually surprisingly cute considering where he comes from. Especially since he knows how to follow orders and take direction." She licked her lips thinking about him. "He used to take ballet, do you think I could get him into his ballet outfit and dominate…" Brittany cut her off quickly.
"Stop listening to your hormones and focus." Chantal actually did look somewhat ashamed by this as Brittany continued. "Star seems to be able to handle these kinds of positions well so we will have to change tactics. Instead of embarrassing her and consoling her we will instead focus on elevating her immediately and show her the benefits of joining us while hinting at what could happen if she doesn't join us." The other two nodded to Brittany as she smoothed her wig back. "Now let's get back, I have a solo to sing."
"Hey Jackie."
"Oh, hey Marco. How'd you get in the party?" Jackie smiled as she saw a guy she finally got along with approach her.
"Well I'm here under guise as Star's butler for better or for worse." Jackie giggled at that with Marco sighing in frustration. "I think Star may be taking it too far as well." Jackie patted the couch next to her which Marco promptly sat down on and whispered closely to Jackie. "Just between you and me, my friends are coming to make a mess of this party to embarrass Brittany to no end." Jackie chuckled again sidling in close to him, making Marco blush slightly.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. As a person who has gotten invited multiple times I can safely say anything would be an improvement over what normally happens." Jackie sighed making Marco blink in concern as Jackie continued. "I actually don't like being one of the popular kids Marco, it can be so constraining and limiting despite how loosely I'm connected with the other groups." Marco looked at Jackie concerned putting his arm around her shoulder unconsciously.
"Well that's why I don't bother with trying to fit in." Jackie smiled up at him making his heart skip a beat as she slid in even closer. "umm so uh what normally happens?" Jackie giggled and slid right next to him moving his arm down around to her waist.
"Well usually once we get going there's karaoke which Brittany is horrible at, present opening which is demeaning to everyone as Brittany throws aside her gifts, cake cutting which always has someone jump out of it so we have no cake, and boys tend to hit on me non-stop just because I'm a "catch" as they would put it." She sighed leaning into Marco making him turn a deeper crimson color then normal. "It wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that they are mostly immature idiots who don't take no for an answer. Kind of the reason why I'm "throwing" myself at you now." She smiled up at Marco as realized the eyes of no less than six guys were on him filled with envy and anger. "So, why did you start practicing karate?" Jackie looked up at him with Marco calming himself. He thought 'Step 22, make yourself vulnerable to her.' He turned to her smiling answered the truth.
"Because I wanted to be a ninja turtle." Jackie giggled into one of her hands as she put another one around his waist moving in closer to him. "No really, I wanted to be a ninja turtle and went through training to become capable of ninja actions. I started out with ballet when I was younger, yes those rumors are true, in order to gain flexibility and muscular strength to begin training." Jackie seemed completely absorbed in Marco's words as he continued. "I then took up free running for a short while to get used to heights and traversing obstacles quickly and I still do it independently to keep up my abilities. I then took karate to hone my fighting skills so I could actually do combat well and plus karate is just cool. After that I plan on taking up fencing and usage of other weapons to learn further combat skills, hopefully with those cool ninja stars known as shuriken." He looked at Jackie and was relieved to see she was drinking in every word he had to say eagerly.
"So, do you still want to be a ninja turtle?" Marco chuckled at Jackie's question before answering.
"Not really. I was hoping for genetic mutation but that was not likely going to happen, so I decided to just become a regular ninja. When I learned that ninjas did not really function like the turtles did I decided to just continue as I wanted to become a cool fighter like Mackie Hand." Jackie oohd slightly at this boosting Marco's confidence. "It would be nice to have those skills you know." He leaned in close to Jackie whispering in her ear. "Just between you and me, I still practice ballet independanty because I just enjoy it so much." He pulled back to see Jackie beaming up at him making him blush slightly.
"Cool man. Did you know I took up skateboarding because I wanted to be a mermaid?" Marco blinked in shock at this but was instantly invested in the conversation. "I used to live by the ocean and still take trips down there all the time as I like it and to practice surfing. Unfortunately I couldn't stay down there all the time to practice surfing so I practiced skateboarding to compensate for that and just grew to love it. I also tried learning all I could about the ocean and even learned how to sing really well so I could be just like Ariel." Marco smiled at that remembering the few times he had heard Jackie sing. "But like your genetic mutation I came to realize that a magical transformation was unlikely so I just continued with everything because I liked it so much and it helps to have skills like that." She then seemed to get an idea and leaned in close to Marco's face making his blush return and deepen. "Say, could you get Star to turn me into a mermaid and you into a ninja turtle for a short time?" Marco glanced over to Star who was enjoying the party; at least it appeared that way.
"Well sure, if Star would be up to it." Jackie hugged him close squeezing slightly.
"Thanks, you are an awesome boyfriend." Everything went silent and blank for Marco as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened and what Jackie had said.
"Wai… you… and… couple?!" Marco babbled a little as Jackie pulled back looking at him coyly.
"Oh come on Marco, I've seen the way you look at me and the methods you have been using to talk to me for the last few years." Marco blushed a bright crimson as he realized Jackie had known the whole time. "I kind of figured something was up when you puked in my lap in 3rd grade trying to impress me." Marco tried hiding his face at that memory but Jackie pulled his face back up to stare at him. "I like you because you're genuine and caring, any girl would want a boy like you if they wanted a genuine relationship. So let's just cut to the chase and become a couple because you are just a cool guy I want to be with." Jackie then leaned in and lightly kissed him on the lips making Marco freeze for a second before going limp as a warm bubbly feeling encased him. 'It's happened, it's finally happened!' Marco thought to himself giddily. As they pulled back from each other Marco saw Jackie was blushing lightly as well and looked a little bashful. "I-is it hot in here, or is that just me." Marco smiled before replying.
"No I'm feeling it too; perhaps we should go to the roof." The moment was then shattered by horrible singing that made them both put their hands over their ears to block it out. Looking up they saw Brittany was singing now, very horribly indeed. Marco leaned in and shouted "Let's get to the roof before my ears start bleeding." Jackie nodded and followed him out of the bus up a set of stairs that would take them to the roof.
Well... this going to be a long episode. Strap yourselves in people this may be the first four part episode you read. And for that matter, I have definitely gone to the point where I have deviated from canon to the point of no return whether I wanted to or not.